Chicken Wire VS. Hardware Cloth (WHEN DOES PRICE BECOME UNREASONABLE?)

It all depends on where you are located, if you are in the suburbs, a city, or a small town, where predators wouldn't be an issue, go for the chicken wire for sure. In the country, hardware cloth would be safer, but, people have kept chickens in with chicken wire for years with minimal problems.

 

I'm in the country and here's what we are doing. Chicken wire on the run and hardware cloth on the coop openings and vents. They need the protection at night from the nocturnal animals. But our dogs will keep everything away, even at night.

 

If you really don't want to risk it , spend the $80. What I did to cut cost a little was
to use it in my coop and also around the bottom half of my run but then covered the top half of the run sides with coated chicken wire since most predators would be trying to get access around the bottom and I thought I could afford less strength up top.


Good luck!

Nancy

 

You could use the hardware cloth for the sides of the run and use the chicken wire for the top.

 

If you can swing it... I say go for the hardware cloth..... you'll find it unreasonable if you find yourself replacing the chicken wire with hardware cloth somewhere down the line

 

Are you going to use the hardware cloth for the coop alone? A 100ft. of 4', 1/2" hardware cloth (Garden Zone Brand) runs around $50.00, here in MO.

Nice job on the coop frame. Definitely spend the extra $$ It is a fixed cost. The investment of time/feed/etc. is continually growing. Your investment so `hedged' is very `cheap', given the decimation of a possible `raccoon crash'.

 

I just finished mine and used hardware cloth on all window openings and run sides and then a double dose of chicken wire on the top. I staggered the 2 layers on top so the holes are small and little hands would be more likely tangled trying to reach in.